Lowell coach Casey McKim keeps coming back to the word “physicality” when he talks about senior Lincoln Schneider.

A 5-foot-11, 210-pound linebacker, Schneider plays with a certain abandon.

“With this kid, it doesn’t matter how big the kid in front of him is, he’s going to run into that person as hard as he can, as fast as he can,” McKim said. “That’s what you want as a football player.”

Schneider has been a varsity football player for the Red Devils for nearly his entire career. He was tapped as a starter for the fourth game of his freshman season.

That game was less nerve-wracking for Schneider than workouts with his teammates and coaches.

“My first practice, I was way more nervous than my first game,” he said. “I was very nervous. In a game, they don’t know I’m being pulled up to varsity. They just think I’m a player. In practice, they know I’m a freshman, so I better show what I can do. There’s definitely more pressure.”

As he has gained experience over the years, Schneider has developed a sense of calm on the field. But he also feels some urgency in his final season at Lowell.

“I put in a lot more work in the offseason,” he said. “I definitely got faster on the field. Now that it’s my senior year, I don’t want to leave anything on the field. I really want to put it all out there.”

In McKim’s first season with the Red Devils, he has seen that from Schneider. After compiling 73 tackles with eight for loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery as a junior, Schneider posted seven tackles during Lowell’s season-opening loss to Crown Point last week.

“He’s definitely one of our best kids in terms of physicality, athleticism,” said McKim, who spent five seasons at New Prairie, a tenure that included a Class 4A state runner-up finish in 2022. “We haven’t played him at running back yet, but we’ve toyed with that, even in some of our short-yardage stuff. He’s kind of a do-it-all guy.

“He’s super physical, just a really physical presence, and he’s a great leader. He’s kind of the captain of the defense in terms of getting people aligned, making sure they know where they’re going.”

Teammates such as junior offensive lineman Kash Komorowski respect Schneider.

“Personally, Lincoln is one of my favorite teammates,” Komorowski said. “He’s a good friend and a funny guy off the field, but then when we step on the field, he’s serious and focused.

“He’s one of the hardest hitters I’ve ever gone against. He’s also fast and quick to read his keys. On outside zone plays when you have to go against him in practice, it feels like he’s scraped over the top before you can take two steps. He’s also a motivator too. He sets the tone for our team and raises the intensity.”

Schneider also relies upon that intensity as a wrestler. He was a regional qualifier at 190 pounds last season after finishing as the runner-up in both a sectional and the Northwest Crossroads Conference meet.

Schneider, who was a sprinter for Lowell’s boys track and field team as a freshman and sophomore, aims to play football in college.

“That’s the goal,” he said. “If that doesn’t happen, I’ll go to pilot school. If I don’t play college ball, I’ll go right into flying school. If I play college ball, I would probably study something with airplanes, learning about the planes, and fly when I came home because it’s too much to do both.

“I’m going to pilot school at Griffith-Merrillville Airport now, doing the flying and testing. You can’t fly for a major commercial airline until you’re 23. Before then, you’re just racking up your hours on hours. So I’d try to get my pilot’s license at 19, 20, then for the next three years, I’d do construction, then hopefully I’d start flying when I’m 23.”

Schneider hopes the Red Devils can fly high this season.

“We’re looking good,” he said. “We’re doing our jobs. We’re intense. I’m just excited for the season. We’re going to do really well.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/28/football-lowell-lincoln-schneider/